CAKE ON THE BRAIN

HOW TO SWIRL BUTTERCREAM

2013-05-15T19:46:00.001-07:00

Meet my friend, the 1M Wilton Tip.

So you want to learn how to swirl buttercream like a professional?

I created a couple of Vine looping videos for you with the help of my 6 year old. She held the iPhone and tapped the screen to help me tape the videos.

On the first take, the buttercream farted. I had air pockets in the piping bag and didn't burp the bag so thus the fart at the end. Just do as I say (and not as I do) and burp your bag (getting all the air pockets out) and you won't the have a buttercream fart. This entails simply squeezing a small amount of buttercream into a container while twisting from the top to get rid of the air pockets.

In the second video there are no buttercream farts. I don't pile on the buttercream like they do in the bakeries because we simply don't like that much buttercream on the cupcakes. But do as you please. You can take your sweet time building a higher conical mound of buttercream if you're so inclined.

Roasted Cauliflower and Onions with Parmesan

2013-05-15T16:10:00.001-07:00

So there are no excuses explaining my long absence.

All I can say is come summer time (yippee!) I will definitely be blogging more and posting more delicious recipes.

For now, I've discovered that I can more easily post to my blog through this app called Posts. It's pretty darned good so far. I can upload photos easily and juggle more than one blog too. It allows for comment moderation and has more features than the lousy blogger app. Way more features such as adding hyperlinks and changing fonts etc.

By the way, I was able to get the app for free through the Apps gone free app. For a limited time, paid apps go free and sometimes there are pretty good ones to be had.

Here's my quick main or side-dish recipe for awesome Roasted Cauliflower

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH ONIONS, GARLIC AND PARMESAN

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small onion cut into large chunks

1/4 cup parmesan

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 475degrees Fahrenheit

2. Toss the florets, onion and garlic with the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Spread evenly on a shallow roasting pan

4. Roast for 10 minutes. With a oven mitts on and a pair of tongs, toss the cauliflower gently rotating the pieces.

5. Roast a further 10-15 minutes, tossing occasionally until golden brown all over.

6. Remove the roasting pan from oven and sprinkle the parmesan over the cauliflower. Toss and return to the oven for a final 5 minutes.

7. Remove and serve. The lovely burnt bits are tasty.

Looping Video Food Porn Reviews: The Vine App

2013-03-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

Ooh la la! Les macarons! vine.co/v/bpZQ6BziXnv
— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

This is my first time using The Vine App: 6 second looping videos. I'm still not sure whether I like this over still shots. It gets me all dizzy watching the looping videos. Perhaps I need to work on my perspective and filming techniques. You can create stop-motion or short video clips. I think this could be a good thing if I can improve my filming techniques.

Well, you know how they say a picture conveys a thousand words? Perhaps video can convey even more? What do you think?

By the way...no I did not eat all these meals in one day! It was over the course of the weekend :p
Spring Break is here! Time to continue my exploration of more Vancouver patisseries! Will be back with more.

Let me know what you think of this new way of exploring foodie Vancouver?

I get this feeling that this new medium for communication in social media may be the next big thing. It's easy, it doesn't clog up your device, and there's so much potential for creativity. Mind you it has just as much potential to wreak havoc and be super irritating...Just a feeling. I will be posting Vine clips all Spring Break and see what I feel at the end of my experiment.

Be sure to click on the "unmute" button on each to hear sound if you wish. Especially neat is hearing the Water Spinach sizzling in the hot pot clip :)

Ajisai Sushi Bar
in Kerrisdale
(Excellent sushi!)

My #firstpost on Vines Spinach Gomae vine.co/v/bd33p0BHYIB
— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

Assorted sashimi and negitoro maki vine.co/v/bdL7WnIXXJ0
— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

Penang Delight Cafe
in Renfrew-Collingwood

Gado gado vine.co/v/bp7lv7j0nn0
— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

Kang kong: water spinach in hot pot vine.co/v/bpZB9e5JAwu
— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

Nasi goreng vine.co/v/bpZa2M2XhBM
— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

French Made Baking
in Mount Pleasant

French made bakery vine.co/v/bpZP26qQh6E
— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

Ooh la la! Les macarons! vine.co/v/bpZQ6BziXnv
— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

Cream puff! vine.co/v/bpZ2eWArpag
— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

Canneles! vine.co/v/bpZ0uEHltja

— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

Pistachio, black sesame, raspberry, lavender, litchi rosewater, Earl Grey macarons vine.co/v/bpmuLdMheOe
— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

Valentine's Day Butter Cookies with Red Royal Icing

2013-02-16T17:20:00.004-08:00

I've made Valentine's Day cookies several times with similar results. All were tasty. My first version was tasty but the red icing well, was a weird pinkish orange hue. Creating deep reds is perplexing. Do you add a whole bottle of fakey "no taste" food colouring? Often this renders the tongues bright red of the people who ingested your cookies. Or do you add a dab and hope that it'll do? My second version was made with white chocolate but in the end the same washed out colours resulted.

I usually add a dab and complain to myself later about how I should have added more food colouring. But I'm torn. I don't like having so much fakey red food colouring in my food in general. I'm sure too that most people if given a choice would rather not ingest that much food colouring too. So I thought oh well, I'll live with the crappy muted red colours I was getting.

The other day, I thought I'd research and revisit this problem with red icing. I compiled a few tips for bakers who want better reds:
1. Do toss in a few tablespoons of Dark Cocoa powder to the icing. This will improve the depth and darkness of the icing. Bonus: it adds great flavour!
2. Use "no taste" red food gel (I used Wilton brand) or red powdered food colouring
3. Allow the icing to sit overnight (covered) and the red will be deeper
4. If you have burgundy (which I don't) I hear a bit of this will help too.
5. You can always add more, but you can't take away! Add a little colouring at a time and thoroughly combine before repeating as necessary until you get the red you want
6. Don't sweat it if it's not bright red. You tried. Let it go. Just eat it.

VANILLA BEAN BUTTER COOKIES (GF)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup organic cane sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg white, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, ground up)
2 ½ cups Gluten Free Flour Blend (see gf blend recipe below) OR if you're not GF, then sifted all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon coarse salt

1. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in whole egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour and salt and mix until combined.

2. Halve dough; roll into a disk about 1/4 inch thick. Cut our heart shapes with a mini heart cutter.

3. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Space cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. This depends on the size of your mini cookies. Just keep an eye on the first batch to make sure. (cakebrain note: ensure the cookies are golden brown and they'll taste much more flavour as well as a better crunch). Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Store in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

4. Decorate by flooding the cooled cookies with red icing. See recipe link HERE. Let dry. Pipe with a small round tip around the edges to create lace design with white icing. I gently tap the tip to touch the cookie at short intervals as I trace around the border.

CAKEBRAIN'S FAVOURITE GF FLOUR BLEND RECIPE:

2 1/4 cups superfine Thai Rice Flour (Asian market)

1/4 cup potato starch

2/3 cup tapioca starch

3/4 cup sweet rice flour (Thai brands are best)

1/3 cup cornstarch

2 teaspoons xanthum gum

In a large airtight container, combine the flours together well. I use a large wire whisk to mix the flours thoroughly. Be particularly vigilant about distributing the xanthum gum as it is a small quantity compared to the rest of the flours.
Use this GF Flour Blend in place of regular cake flour or all-purpose flour.
You do not have to worry about sifting as it's not lumpy
You do not have to worry about overbeating as there's no gluten to develop.

GIRLIE BIRTHDAY PARTY CUPCAKES: On turning 6

2013-01-19T11:16:00.004-08:00

My girl's 6 and here's the cupcakes I've made for her bday party!

Chocolate Quinoa Cupcake recipe: I adapted by using coconut oil (melted) and all you need to do is dump all the ingredients in your food processor. I used my VitaMix

So she's 6! 6 is groovy. She's old enough to go to school but still young enough to still want girlie cupcakes. 6 is a good year. You can still sit on daddy's lap, and get your older sister in trouble by pouting and giving the "look".

I adapted the recipe again by adding 1/3 cup more cooked quinoa and ended up with 15 large cupcakes. Baking time was approx. 35 minutes.

What girl doesn't love sparkly dragees?

The secret to a smooth, light frosting is beating the heck out of your buttercream. 5-7 minutes in a stand mixer will lighten it to a heavenly texture.

Just a dab of pink gel food colouring (don't use too much) will get you there

Using a disposable piping bag and a Wilton 1M tip

Work the buttercream outside in

Pretty yummy

Don't drop too many dragees on each cupcake. 3 should do ya

Moist crumb; not cloyingly sweet

Serve with pink and white Jelly Bellies! The white ones are birthday cake flavoured Jelly bellies

taa daa

BEST EVER QUINOA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
adapted from Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood
Makes 15 large scrumptious cupcakes
2 1/3 cups cooked quinoa, cold (see note below for instructions to cook quinoa)
1/3 cup milk (or soy, almond or coconut milk)
4 large eggs (or egg replacer)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cups coconut oil, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
*2 large-welled muffin tins (large cups, large cupcake liners).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin tins with the 15 large-sized cupcake liners.
In a Vitamix, Blender of Food Processor, combine: milk, eggs, vanilla. Blend until combined. Add 2 1/3 cups of cold cooked quinoa and the melted coconut oil and continue to blend until smooth.
Dump in the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the Vitamix. Blend well to combine.
Pour from the blender directly into the cupcake liners, evenly distributing the cupcake batter between the 15 liners. Gently tap the tin on the counter to ensure there are no air bubbles. Smooth the tops with a small spatula (or your finger!)
Bake in the centre of the oven for approximately 35 minutes.
Test the cupcakes for doneness with a toothpick or cake tester.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a rack.
Frost if desired with Swiss Meringue Buttercream using a 1M Wilton tip. Decorate with the chocolate lace hearts (see post above for the easy method I used). Bling it up with dragees if desired.
Cupcakes can be stored sealed in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month. But I don't think they'll last that long.

Note: Bring 2/3 cup raw, rinsed white or golden quinoa to boil in a heavy saucepan with 1 1/3 cups water. Cover, reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave covered saucepan on burner for another 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and allow the Quinoa to cool.
Rice Cooker Method: Cook rinsed quinoa as you would rice, following manufacturer's instructions and the indicator lines for appropriate water levels. I made 1 cup quinoa and found it had enough leftovers to make another dish.

GIRLIE PINK BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 T milk
Place the softened butter in a large mixing bowl and gradually add the confectioners' sugar a little at a time to the butter, beating continuously. Continue until all the sugar is blended in.
Beat with the mixer until the icing is pale and fluffy. Beat in the milk until well combined
Use pink gel food colouring (not too much! a dab'll do ya) to colour the buttercream.
Scoop the buttercream into a piping bag with a "1M" tip (Wilton) and pipe swirls on the tops of the cupcakes.

Decorate with pink buttercream frosting (see below for recipe), and share the fun and have your loved ones sprinkle on the dragees, sprinkles, sanding sugar & dark chocolate shavings.

HOW TO SWIRL BUTTERCREAM

Happy Holidays

2012-12-17T13:37:00.001-08:00

Sparkly Vanilla Butter Cookies

Chocolate spritz cookies (GF) with white chocolate drizzle and festive sprinkles

I am missing you dear readers, but I am quite busy with life! I am still baking and eating out but I have put posting on my food blog on a pause for now. I will be back when my schedule lightens up.

Happy holidays!

CLINGING DESPERATELY TO THE LAST REMNANTS OF SUMMER

2012-09-02T10:05:00.001-07:00

Local Blueberry Tarts with Coconut-Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream

Local Blueberries fully ripe and ready for picking!

The buckets they provide hold about 5 lbs of berries. They provide buckets for picking, but you should bring your own shallow containers for bringing the berries home. Transfer the berries from their buckets after weighing and paying. Minimum was 5 lbs per person (i.e one bucket per adult). We picked 2 buckets and paid $1.75/lb. It took us a leisurely 1 hour to pick two buckets full.

U-Pick Blueberry Field @ GS Farms, Richmond. Check out this link for other local UPick farms

Some of the bushes were so full of berries, they sagged from the weight of the berries

Coconut milk pastry cream...a good thing

For the Coconut Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream, I used my ol' trusty recipe from a previous post. The toughest part...waiting for the pastry cream to cool before eating!

No need to make tart pastry from scratch...though I know you can do it...the time is ripe to eat these blueberries now! There's 10 lbs of these blueberries! Life's too short! No time to lose! Buy frozen tart shells from the grocery store and bake per instructions before filling with pastry cream and berries.

Press the cooked pastry cream through a sieve to ensure smoothness.

Refrigerate the pastry cream until cold. To prevent a skin from forming, you should press plastic wrap on the surface.

FYI: That's not dirt in my pastry cream. Those are quality Tahitian Vanilla Bean seeds freshly scraped from the juicy pods.

Top the fresh berries on the pastry cream. No need to glaze. Savour the last remnants of summer.

Wishing all my readers a relaxing Labour Day weekend and a fantastic start to the new school year!

;* cb

SHE'S BACK! WITH BANANA CAKE AND COCONUT GELATO

2012-08-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

BANANA CAKE WITH SUGAR FREE COCONUT GELATO

Where have I been all this time, you might have been wondering?

or maybe you haven't noticed my absence? o.O

Here's what I've been doing in a nutshell:

@ the end of the school year, I got really sick/asthmatic (getting better now); doc says blood work indicates severe allergy to something; on waiting list (over 3 months) to see an allergist and a respirologist
applied for and got a NEW JOB (part time; still teaching English too) as a Learning Technologies Mentor for my district (yay!) \o/
completed my Graduate Diploma in Teacher Leadership (Certificate of Innovative Educational Leadership)
joined Fitocracy to track my workouts (5-6 times/week)...and bought 2 kettle bells too
road trip: visited Great Wolf Lodge with kiddies; wore a bikini for 1st time in years thx to my workouts
road trip: Portland, Oregon to continue our vacation and was impressed by food carts & shopping... and I think it's a fabulous place that I would def want to visit again!

COCONUT GELATO (SUGAR FREE)
from Amato Gelato, Vancouver, B.C.

In Portland, Oregon we stayed at the Embassy Suites Hotel Downtown. I cannot recommend this hotel enough. FREE happy hour drinks and snacks, Art Deco, totally renovated boutique hotel within walking distance of everything and especially VOODOO DOUGHNUTS!

I decided to get glutened. I planned it very carefully. I went the whole trip GF, but decided I would eat those damned doughnuts at the end of the trip. I did my research online ahead of time and listed the doughnuts that looked promising. I bought 5 doughnuts in total (see HERE for a pic of them)...had Stomach trek on over at 5 in the morning (it wasn't busy at that time but usually there's a huge lineup out the door... but they're open 24hrs/day) on the last day of the trip. Before the drive home, I had my first yeasted doughnut. (Be forewarned Voodoo Doughnuts are not politically correct doughnuts.) It was called the GAY BAR. OMG. A yeasted long john covered in white icing, filled with custardy cream and blinged up with a row of rainbow Froot Loops. Hit the link to see a pic I took of it. It was my fave. I was in gluten heaven. I knew I would regret it but eventually I pushed it too far and on the drive home had another doughnut.

It was the Voodoo Doll Doughnut that did me in. As we drove home from Portland, we got stuck in traffic. All the lanes of the I5 were closed down for some reason. People came out of their cars and started walking towards the edge of the highway overlooking the airport. They were taking pics of the airport. How odd these Americans are, I thought. Stomach asked someone and found out that Obama had just landed and gotten out of his plane that was right in front of us as we looked from our cars on the highway. Some of the people even got pics of him getting into his car I think. Geez! And his escorted car was making its way from the airport and so the whole highway was shut down. I was starting to wonder why these drivers didn't seem to be too upset about the stoppage of traffic.

So during this huge delay on our way back, I decided to go for another gluten goody. That Voodoo Doll Doughnut was eyeing me. Literally...with its beady m&m eyes. I pulled the pretzel stake from the vdoll's heart and gave it to Bebe to eat. I bit off his head and crunched on his eyes. The tender chocolate icing covered long john was delish. Then I bit into his torso and lo and behold my mouth filled with jewel-red jelly! Awesome! what a nice surprise!

A little later on, I succumbed to the horrible bloating and crampy feeling in my tummy from eating too much gluten and I knew I had maxed out my gluten tolerance for the day. Was it worth the pain and suffering? Hell ya. The next day, I had to fast practically the whole day to get rid of that awful feeling.

But I'm back on the GF wagon again and though I haven't baked in ages I figured I'd warm up again with an oldie but goodie. Today I present you with my fave gluten free Banana Cake recipe. I served this with sugar free Coconut Ice Cream from Amato Gelato. Perfect pairing.

USE THE RIPEST SPOTTED BANANAS FOR THIS RECIPE

In Portland I went to Sur la Table (bought 2 sets of cutlery, one fork is pictured above).

You wouldn't know it's Gluten Free. Tender crumb.

delicious!

BANANA BUNDT CAKE (GF)

adapted from Dorie Greenspan's "Classic Banana Bundt Cake" from Baking: From My Home to Yours

For my favourite Gluten Free Flour blend recipe, check out my post here.

3 cups GF flour blend (or all purpose flour, as in Greenspan's original recipe)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups organic cane sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large organic free range eggs, room temperature
approximately 4 very ripe bananas, pureed (1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups)
1 cup sour cream

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to Preheat the oven to 350 F. Generously butter a 9- to 10-inch (12-cup) Bundt pan. [I sprayed my Nordicware bundt pan with Pam.]
Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the bananas. Finally, mix in half the dry ingredients (the mixture will look curdled — just keep mixing), all the sour cream, and then the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until well blended. Scrape the batter into the pan, rap the pan on the counter to de-bubble the batter, and smooth the top.
Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. [mine took 75 minutes] Check the cake after about 30 minutes, if it is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding on the rack to cool to room temp.
If you have the time, wrap the cooled cake in plastic and allow it to sit on the counter overnight before serving — it’s better the second day.
Because my adaptation of the cake is gluten free, it should be refrigerated. It will keep well in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for several days. You can warm up slices in the microwave for a few seconds or allow the slices come to room temperature before serving. This bundt would freeze well too.

LONGEVITY HERBAL TEA

2012-06-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

Pu Erh Tea in the "Tuocha shape"

We were in Chinatown for lunch at Phnom Penh (I recommend the Garlic Chicken Wings!) and I walked into a lovely tea shop near Ming Wo. The shop, Jane's Longevity Tea and Arts (41 East Pender Street) had traditional Chinese tea supplies...specialty tea cups and pots, formal tea sets and specialty teas from China. They also served free samples of tea in a ceremony very similar to though very different from a Japanese tea ceremony. I was looking for something to relieve my recent strange asthmatic symptoms. I have a persistent dry cough and my voice is strained from the constant hacking. I even popped a ligment behind my ribcage from coughing so hard a couple of days ago.

I spoke with a man who said he was just "watching the store" because the shop owner had stepped out. He told me his father was a famous TCM doctor in China and he seemed to know a thing or two about teas and TCM. I told him of my symptoms related to asthma and he said he also had asthma as a child but does not have symptoms now. I learned that my lifelong consumption and preference for green tea might be contributing to some of my symptoms.

Apparently, green tea is higher in caffeine than Pu-Erh tea and is also very cooling. See health benefits of Pu Erh tea HERE. It's cholesterol lowering, detoxifying and can help with fat loss. Because I have recently developed asthmatic symptoms (I didn't have asthma as a child)...mainly a persistent dry cough, I am not helping my symptoms by drinking so much green tea. I usually drink from 1 to 4 cups of green tea in a day.

Pu Erh Tea from Yunnan province, China.

He advised me to try Pu-Erh (or Bo Lai...Cantonese pronunciation) which is a sort of fermented tea from Yunnan province in China. The tea leaves are dark and produce a red or dark tea. The one I purchased was not expensive though like fine wine, if you want to, you can pay hundreds of dollars for a Pu Erh brick that is priced by its age and region. Some bricks can be decades old.

I paid $15Cdn for my pressed tea ball, which is sort of cute. It is the size of a baseball cut in half. There is a depression that I imagine is part of the pressing and molding process. The tea guy told me you take a small knife and use it to pry the tea ball and break off small pieces to use.

Apparently, though Pu Erh is a dark tea, people mistake it for black tea but it isn't. He told me that it is a very special tea that wealthy people drink because it can be very expensive; it's good for your health too. The density of a brick can indicate how well it can age. The tighter the packing, the slower it will age. The more surface area, the faster the tea will age.

The shape of my teaball is called Tuocha bowl, or nest.

When I took a small paring knife to it, I was surprised by the hardness of the teaball. It was extremely hard and difficult to break into. I broke off a tiny chunk less than a teaspoon to make my cup of tea. You steep the leaves in hot water for a few minutes and drink. It's kind of hot outside and I wanted to drink it right away so I poured my freshly brewed tea over ice in my double-walled Bodum cup.

The tea was smooth and delicious. It was nothing like the Bo Lei/Pu Erh tea you get at dim sum with your meal. It was not bitter or astringent (like some I've tasted at restaurants) but almost sweet and I hear that the quality of the tea, like fine wine can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars as quality aged tea is rare. The Pu Erh bricks have the region, year and production information on its paper wrapping. Also, like fine wine, you have to watch how you store it and many variable affect its taste. If you want to read some history about Pu Erh tea, I found this link helpful. About an hour after my first cup of the Pu Erh tea I could not believe it. The constant tightness in my throat was eased. I will be drinking this tea from now on as it seems to suit my constitution. I used to think green tea was the be-all and end-all but I guess the tea guy was right. Sometimes you need to match the foods you eat with your body type. He also advised me to limit my consumption of seafood and bitter melon (which is not a problem as I dislike bitter melon).

I am so pleased to have some free TCM advice from this man. I told him my kids were plagued with nosebleeds; up to 3 or 4 a week. He recommended once a week to boil this detoxing tea for 5 minutes and have them drink it. Because of its medicinal flavour from the goji, I asked if I could add sweetener and he said maple syrup or honey would be okay.

I'll let you know how the detox tea works.

Detox Tea

CAKE WALK: CHOCOLATE QUINOA CUPCAKES WITH LAVENDER BUTTERCREAM

2012-06-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Quinoa Cupcakes with Lavender Buttercream

These beauties are for my daughter's school Fun Fair. They run something called a Cake Walk. Parents donate baked cakes and the people buy tickets to play this game somewhat like musical chairs. The people who play the game walk in a circle to music and when the music stops and they land on a certain number on the playground floor they win the cake.

Bebe won a cake last year. Her little 4 year old arms could barely carry the huge chocolate cake she won. She insisted on carrying it home herself.

This year, I'm baking these cupcakes for the Cake Walk. In order to transport them I devised a cheapie, effective system whereby the cupcakes do not topple all over the place. It'll soon be obvious how I did this in the pictures below.

First, I decided to decorate the cupcakes naturally so I went into my backyard looking for flowers. See my bay tree? It's huge! There were thyme flowers, chive flowers...nah. nah.

I wanted something prettier. Those little plants to the right are edamame we're trying to grow.

My 3 year old fig cutting to the left. Pretty healthy! The lavender looked lovely this morning so I chose some as cupcake decorations.

I used my trusty chocolate quinoa cupcake recipe and a simple buttercream. I rarely use cookbooks anymore...I use my iPad and just search my blog's archives. It's so convenient!

I like using disposable piping bags. I have a 1M Wilton tip here. The buttercream was tinted with a violet food colouring to get a lovely light lavender colour

4 cupcakes fit into this paper plate cupcake holder I built to transport my cupcakes to school. I stapled two plates together at the rims, cut 4 X's with a serrated knife, lined each hole with tissue paper and wedged a cupcake into each pocket.

A candied violet and lavender sprinkles adorn some cupcakes

This looks like a little cupcake bouquet...you could add more flowers to get that effect. But for me, it'll do. In all, from a batch of 12 cupcakes, I have 3 of these cupcake bouquets.

For the Chocolate Quinoa Cupcakes recipe...click HERE

For the Simple Buttercream (want to eat now can't wait) recipe...click HERE

For an over-the-top Swiss Meringue Buttercream (I have a stand mixer and patience) recipe...click HERE

PALEO BBQ

2012-06-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

Hey peeps, I've been MIA since going Paleo this last month. I have a few pictures of the sort of thing I've been making and eating:

Grilled Vietnamese Pork Patties with Avocado on Organic Baby Kale Salad mix

Grilled Prawns, Vietnamese Pork Patties, Avocado on Organic Baby Kale Salad mix

Roasted Eggplant and Zucchini.

Since going GF, I thought I had it hard. Then a few weeks ago when my GP said that I should avoid those simple carbs and suggested upping the cardio to 4 times a week because of my whacky hormone levels (due to Hashi's, cycling hyper and hypothyroidism)...to regulate my insulin levels, he cautioned me that my baking may have to be put on the back-burner for a while. He told me to give it a go for a month.

Well, I've stuck to it. I'm running (outside even!) and doing strength-training and I feel good. Still GF primarily but the other day when the kids had roasted corn and were all telling me how sweet it was, I resisted! It's certainly GF, but it isn't Paleo as it's a grain.

The bbq is my friend...and so is olive oil and coconuts! The Vietnamese Grilled Pork I made is an adaptation of my favourite meal: Grilled meat and veggies on rice vermicelli (called "bun")...minus the vermicelli of course. I just grabbed a bag of organic greens, chunked up an avocado and topped it with the grilled meats and seafood. For the nuoc cham, I used freshly squeezed lime juice and fish sauce (diluted with water) and a touch of honey. The veggies were grilled simply with olive oil. The meal was very yummy and it'll be one I'll repeat again and again. So this meal was delicious, GF and Paleo friendly!

Working up my nerve to make a Paleo dessert with dried fruit, coconut and whatnot. Still debating on what that would be like. Thinking I need chocolate so maybe a brownie of some sort? Will keep you posted!

MAKING THAT BBQ COMPLETE: STRAWBERRY MEYER'S LEMONADE, YOGURT CUCUMBER SALAD AND ROASTED PEPPERS

2012-05-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Meyers Lemonade

Depending on your lemons, you should get about 1 cup from 5 juicy Meyer's Lemons. The ones I had were huge and full of juice. The lemons were also way sweeter than regular lemons, so I didn't need to add much sweetener. The fresh strawberries also helped with sweetness and added a nice pink tinge to the lemonade.

Made with fresh squeezed Meyer's Lemons, Fresh sliced strawberries and Agave nectar

This lemonade is perfect for a picnic or summer barbecue. If you don't have agave nectar, you could add simple syrup to taste.

By the way readers, I apologize for the long absence between posts! I have been MIA because my doc has prescribed for me a lifestyle change. My Hashi's has been causing me to fluctuate from hypo to hyperthyroid these past few months. I have been feeling kind of weird lately (irritable and emotional) and had been breaking out and getting cystic acne. He told me that I could alleviate my symptoms by regulating my insulin levels which should help in turn regulate my hormone levels better (thus reducing my acne flareups).

So that means not only am I GF, but he distinctly said No Sugars. Avoid simple carbs. Yikes!

Sugar was all I had left! I think I adapted well to the Gluten Free deal. Then I held back on the dairy because it contributed to my hormonal acne. Now he says that I must also ensure I do cardio 3 to 4 times a week. I admit I fell off the running wagon this year since starting the Grad studies because I had no time. I have to run at night because that's the only time I have after marking essays, making the kiddies' lunches and snacks and writing my own reflection papers (Grad studies is all over reflecting on your learning it seems). Sometimes I'm too pooped to stay up late to run on the treadmill.

Well, despite my tiredness, the hardest step towards running is the anticipation of having to do so. When I'm actually on the treadmill, time flies since I watch Netflix on my computer. If I'm dead tired, the least I'll do is a brisk walk for the duration of a movie (that's 70 to 90 minutes) and if I'm energetic and/or it's early in the evening, I might alternate between a light jog and walking on the treadmill. Right now, I have no inclination to run outside because it's too dark. Maybe in the summer it'll be better.

So I am happy to say that after 2 weeks of doing the prescribed cardio 4 times a week, my cystic acne that was primarily located on my chin, has cleared. I will need to keep this up for a month to see if it truly is working. I'll admit I've succumbed to sugar on more than a few occasions. I haven't baked at all as you can see...but I have these awesome dark chocolate covered dried coconut chunks by True Bliss that I have been addicted to. First one little square...then another. Then the rationalization that dark chocolate is good for me...you get the drift. I've usually downed a handful of little dark chocolate coconut chunks before I'm done. For sure on those days I do my cardio. Being dairy-free is tough. I'm trying to find how much I can get away with ingesting because that can contribute to the acne since there's hormones in milk and it also has a lot of simple sugars. Since the chocolate almond milk I was drinking tasted so good (i.e. had tons of sugar in it), I had to stop drinking it. I have now switched to unsweetened almond milk (30 calories per cup) and that has been good. It tastes way better than soy milk, which I shouldn't be drinking anyways because people with autoimmune issues like Hashimoto's should stay away from soy and goitrogenic foods.

So why this recipe for a sugar-laden (albeit agave) strawberry (which is goitrogenic) beverage? Well, my kiddies and my guests don't have to eat my way. I think I could make it sugar-free but then I'd have to use Splenda. I didn't want to do that and agave is easy to use, dissolves readily and you can adjust the sweetness easily.

I am eyeing the Paleo diet and have been thinking about giving it a try to see if it helps all these wacky symptoms of Hashi's. I think this is something I'll be working on slowly to ensure success as it's really a lifelong lifestyle change. Paleo is no grains, no legumes and beans, no dairy, no sugar, no processed foods and possibly no fun! Don't tell me medjool dates used as sweetener is going to help you make a delicious-looking chiffon cake. I know it won't. I have a feeling that I'll be making a lot of dense cakes and brownies. I think the no grains deal is the toughest because before I could still substitute rice, corn, sorghum, tapioca and other flours for wheat and gluten-filled flours. Now, I'm perplexed. If I make almond-flour based cakes, my kids can't eat them because they're allergic to nuts. So if I bake, I'll have to eat it all myself which doesn't really help my health at all. If I have a treat occasionally, it'll have to be small batch baking for me. I'll be working on small batch Paleo baking I think.

I've been eyeing a recipe for some Paleo brownies lately and I do have medjool dates (eww!) because my Meyer's Parrot loves those and I always keep them on hand. I also have coconut flour, which I think will be my buddy from here on. I'll still be baking tons of regular stuff for my family but I'll try to ease the kiddies from eating normal baked goods to some of the Paleo ones. I know for sure that I can make everything GF and not have it taste GF. In fact sometimes it tastes better than the wheat-based baking! GF is truly not difficult for me anymore. My Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes are my go-to recipe. The challenge now is doing the Paleo diet. You know I'm gonna cheat on the Paleo like crazy sometimes. Especially on the weekends when I go out for restaurant food, which has tons of sugar. And it's so constricting; especially for a baker. This will certainly be a huge challenge for me balancing the joys of life with quality of life.

Stay tuned for my escapades with dates, coconut and honey!

ahh. refreshing!

Here's the lemonade recipe for your next barbecue:

STRAWBERRY MEYER'S LEMONADE
1 cup freshly squeezed Meyer's Lemons
6 cups cold water
1 small basket hulled, sliced strawberries
1/4 cup agave nectar (or to taste)

1. Pour the lemon juice into a large (2 litre) pitcher.
2. Add water and stir well. Stir in the agave nectar and mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust if necessary (this depends on the sourness of the lemons you have)
3. Add the sliced strawberries to the lemonade. Stir. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours to allow the strawberries to macerate and flavour the lemonade.
4. Serve cold.

Cucumber Salad

CUCUMBER SALAD

2 long English cucumbers

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup prepared tzatziki or homemade tzatziki

salt

1. Chop the cucumbers into large chunks. Place in a colander or sieve and lightly salt

2. Allow the cucumbers to drain for about 2 hours in the refrigerator (placed over a bowl)

3. With paper towels, squeeze gently or blot the cucumbers of any remaining liquid; discard the cucumber liquid at the bottom of the bowl.

4. Mix sour cream and tzatziki with the cucumbers.

5. Season with pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

ROASTED PEPPERS

Red and yellow peppers

Olive oil

Salt

1. Place the whole peppers on the barbecue. Grill until blackened/charred.

2. Place the peppers in a large pyrex bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool.

3. Scrape the charred skin from the peppers. Slice in large chunks; discarding the seeds, membrane and stem.

4. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt to taste. Serve at room temperature

PLJESKAVICA AND GIBANICA (CROATIAN MEAT PATTIES AND SAVOURY CHEESE STRUDEL)

2012-04-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

Gibanica is sometimes called Burek (cheese pie).

Serve Gibanica (savoury cheese strudel) with roasted peppers, cucumber salad, tomatoes, raw onions if you like 'em and pljeskavica (grilled meat patties)

It was summer. I was in university and my boyfriend had a Serbo-Croatian next-door neighbour (his dad was Croatian and his mom was Serbian) who was his best friend. They used to hang out every day and would eat at each other's homes quite often.

Days were spent talking about cars and puttering around his garage as he fixed his old '64 Firebird. The car was more Bondo than metal. It was so cool though. We drove down to Ambleside, cruised down Robson Street and walked along the Stanley Park Seawall during those warm summer nights.

Layer phyllo sheets with cheese mixture. Brush with oil or butter

Summers were full of barbecues and inevitably I would be invited to their big parties. The house was full of people from all generations, chatting, playing pool and helping with making the food. The tables were loaded with grilled chicken, grilled meat, a savour monkey bread, a cheese strudel, tomatoes, onions, cucumber salad and much more. Everything was made from scratch. His mom was the best cook ever.

I should have used melted butter instead of olive oil. I also did not butter each phyllo sheet before I layered on the cheese mixture...so it was drier and not as decadent. It wasn't as rich tasting as I remembered from the past

The iconic foods that were a mainstay at all the barbecues were the Savoury Cheese Pie (Gibanica [Gee-ban-itsa]) and the Grilled Meat patties (Pljeskavica [Plyess-ka-vee-tsah]). My boyfriend had once asked his buddy for the recipe, but didn't get a response. The recipes were well-guarded family secrets passed down through the generations. I encountered a similar response from my Portuguese girlfriend's family when I inquired about a fried shrimp empanada-like appetizer. I never bothered asking anyone for their amazing recipes again. I knew they wouldn't divulge. I just tucked those tastebud memories away with the faint hope that I might encounter an authentic recipe sometime in the future.

Bake until the bottom and top is golden brown.

When I got married to my boyfriend, and his best friend became his Best Man, we moved out into our own townhouse and we no longer hung out at his parents' house and I no longer ate the Serbo-Croatian foods that so resonated with me the smells and feelings of summer.

Today, lately since Stomach bought a new barbecue, (Weber!) I have been having nostalgic yearnings for the meat patties and custardy savoury cheese pies of my youth.

Serve slices of Gibanica with the Pljeskavica. Leftovers can be refrigerated and you can eat it at room temp or even cold

Though Stomach would often watch his best friend help his mother with the layering of the phyllo for the cheese pie and we would sit at the kitchen table as he helped make the meat patties and then grill them on the bbq, the thought never crossed my mind that I should be taking mental notes. My bad.

Use a pyrex baking dish to bake the Gibanica so you can check that it is golden brown on the bottom.

From Stomach's recollection, there were 7 different cheeses in that Gibanica (or Burek) dish. Apparently, the layering of the Gibanica would take a long time and it was his friend's job to do it. I personally recalled some sort of dehydrated vegetable concoction that was sprinkled into the raw meat patty mixture.

Pljeskavica (Croatian Grilled Meat Patties)

There are no Croatian or Serbian restaurants around Vancouver that I know of (let me know if there are!) and I suspect this is because the moms know how to cook so well...so why bother? Other than befriending way more Croatian and Serbian friends in the hopes of being invited to their awesome bbq parties, the only way I figured I'd get to eat these tasty dishes whenever I wanted was to get to work researching and testing recipes. I realized that I'd have to get going on researching the recipes that I longed for...on the internet.

Ground beef and pork are combined with finely minced onion, garlic and sweet paprika

Interestingly, none of the recipes I found were exactly as I remembered. None of the Gibanica recipes called for 7 different cheeses. The recipes I found had at most 3 different cheeses. The Pljeskavica recipes were so simple and didn't call for any of those dehydrated veggies...that I wondered if they were truly authentic. In the end, I found a product called "Vegeta" that was invented in Croatia. Apparently, it is as ubiquitous as ketchup in North America. So I suspect that Vegeta (which has an MSG and non-MSG version) is the product that my friend used in his meat patties mixture. I also think the Vegeta he used had MSG in it because his Pljeskavica were soooo good!

Allow the ground meat mixture to sit covered in refrigerator so flavours will meld. I did this overnight.

In the end, I cobbled together my own recipe from the myriad of recipes out there. I used a technique from one recipe and some ingredients from a few other recipes and kind of guessed at the proportions.

These two super tasty dishes are my faves for barbecues. The sides will have to wait for another day's post as this one's getting pretty long on its own.

I will be tweaking the recipes this summer until they come out the way I remembered. The Gibanica was a bit too dry for my liking. This recipe was very good but not amazing! I will be trying to make it more rich and custardy as I recalled it (and maybe add a few more cheeses? possibly 4 more? and use butter instead of olive oil). I think the calorie counts will be going up for the cheese pie. The meat patties are almost perfect. I need that Vegeta seasoning mix. Next time I have to form the patties differently...thinner and indented in the middle. Gotta look around for the Vegeta somewhere. Doubt Safeway has it!

GIBANICA (BUREK, OR SAVOURY CHEESE STRUDEL)
1 package phyllo dough (defrosted in the refrigerator overnight)
2 eggs [next time I will use way more eggs...maybe 4 or 5 because I didn't think it was rich and custardy enough...also may add some milk]
2 cups feta cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons club soda or mineral water
olive oil or melted butter for brushing

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a food processor, pulse the feta until crumbly. Add the ricotta, sour cream and 2 eggs. Continue to pulse until the mixture is thoroughly combined.
Add the club soda or mineral water. Pulse again to combine.
Butter, oil or spray a large pyrex rectangular baking dish.
Save 4 sheets of phyllo; setting it aside for the "lid" of the strudel. Cover with a towel so it doesn't dry out.
Take a sheet of phyllo and place into the baking dish. Allow the phyllo to overhang the dish. Brush oil or butter on the phyllo sheet.
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, measure out two scoops of the cheese mixture and spread evenly over the phyllo layer.
Repeat until you are finished with all the phyllo sheets.
Tuck into the dish any of the phyllo overhanging the dish. Cut the reserved 4 sheets of phyllo to the size of the baking dish. Layer sheets on top of the pie, brushing with oil or butter. Finish with a brushing of butter or oil.
Have ready some tin foil in case your Gibanica browns too quickly. Place the pie on middle rack and bake for 25 minutes. Check to ensure it's not burning. If it is browning too quickly, you can place the foil on top. Continue baking for another 15-20 minutes, keeping an eye on the bottom and top. Take it out of the oven when you see through the pyrex dish that the bottom is golden brown and the top is flaky and golden brown.
Cut the cheese pie into squares and serve. Leftovers can be refrigerated. Gibanica can be eaten at room temperature or cold and is a delicious accompaniment to grilled meats.

PLJESKAVICA (CROATIAN MEAT PATTIES)
1large onion, finely minced [I used the food processor]
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoon sweet or hot paprika
[next time I will try and find the seasoning mix,Vegeta to add to the mixture for a more authentic flavour]

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavours to combine.
Form the meat into thin patties. You may want to indent the centres of the patties because they will puff up in the centre when cooked.
Grill the meat patties on the barbecue until done.
Serve with Gibanica, roasted peppers, chopped raw red onions, tomato and a Yogurt Cucumber salad (post coming soon!)

REAL PINEAPPLY MACARONS

2012-04-21T00:38:00.001-07:00

Real Pineapply Macarons

How do you get real pineapples in macaron shells?

You know how you see macaron recipes all over the place that purport to be "Raspberry" or "Strawberry" or "Pineapple" when in fact there isn't any such fruit in the macaron shells? Don't you just hate that?

Often, people mimic the colour of the fruit with vivid food colouring, which is gorgeous but doesn't do much for the flavour. They sometimes use extracts either in the shells or the filling. More often than not, the fruit flavour is infused in the filling through either jams, jellies or actual pieces of fruit sandwiched between the shells.

dust finely ground freeze-dried pineapple on the shells immediately after you pipe them

When I want intense real fruit flavour, I go for the real thing. I get me some freeze-dried fruit and buzz it up in my Bullet. The finely ground powder then is incorporated into the almond/sugar mixture. I even sprinkle the fruit powder onto the shells before they dry. I am always happy with the honest flavour of the powdered fruit.

Since discovering the freeze-dried pineapples, strawberries and mango from Mrs. May's, I've been experimenting with the ground fruit in my macaron shells. I don't think I want to ever go back to the fake flavours of extracts and food colouring. The muted pastel shades that the real fruit yield is fine with me because the flavour more than makes up for the lack of vividness. Besides, macarons are beautiful anyway.

intense pineapple flavour, with no artificial flavours

This recipe has been my hero. It's easy, not wasteful at all and quick to pull together. There's no aging of whites on the counter, no separating of yolks from whites and I haven't had a failed bunch yet [knock on wood].

I'm Costco-dependent. Almost all the ingredients are from Costco. I buy the huge bag of blanched sliced almonds there (and freeze the bag until I need it). I also found the freeze-dried fruit and the confectioners' sugar there. The egg-whites come in a pack of 3-cartons and even the unsalted butter for the SMB is from Costco. I like how I don't have to worry about all those leftover yolks. I just use the SMB recipe for the filling because it also requires egg whites.

You can find Meringue Powder from Wilton (I get mind at Michaels).

REAL PINEAPPLY MACARONS

an original recipe by Cakebrain

145 grams egg whites at room temperature [I used pasteurized egg whites from a carton]
2 tsp meringue powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
15 grams finely ground freeze dried pineapples, plus extra for sprinkling on shells if desired
115 grams ground almonds [I purchase sliced almonds from Costco and grind them down in the food processor]
230 grams confectioners' sugar
75 grams granulated vanilla sugar

Prepare the baking pans by lining with parchment paper.
Prepare your piping bag with a large round tip.
Process the almonds, confectioners' sugar and freeze dried pineapples until thoroughly combined and finely ground. Continue to pulse until all lumps are gone. If there are small lumps, you may sift to ensure fineness of the mixture.
In a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy, about 2 minutes. Add the cream of tartar. Continue whisking on medium speed for 2 more minutes. Gradually add the granulated sugar while whisking on high for another 3-4 minutes, or until the egg whites are very stiff.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites, and with a rubber spatula, deflate the whites while mixing. Combine the ingredients thoroughly and watch carefully, lifting the mixture with the spatula to see if it leaves ribbons. Stop mixing before the mixture becomes runny. Test by seeing if the batter is lava-like. It should not maintain its lines but sink slowly back into itself in about 10 seconds.
Transfer half the batter to the piping bag and pipe the macaroons onto the parchment, allowing for spreading.
Rap the tray a few times on your counter to ensure bubbles are eradicated
Continue filling bag and piping macaron shells until all the batter is used.
Sprinkle extra ground pineapple on the macaron shells.
Preheat the oven to 315 degrees F. Allow the macaron shells to dry, about 20-30 minutes. If you touch the surface, it should not be sticky. Continue to dry if it is sticky.
Place one tray on the centre rack and bake for 10-12 minutes (depending on the size of the macarons). Turn the tray from back to front halfway through.
Allow macaroons to cool completely before filling. Remove from parchment carefully.
Pipe Swiss Meringue Buttercream on a macaron shell, find a similar sized shell and sandwich it. Store the macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Best served at room temperature. You can freeze the shells or the prepared macarons in an airtight container.

VANILLA BEAN SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
(from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes; makes about 5 cups)

5 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 T sugar
pinch of salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
1 vanilla bean, insides scraped (and save the pod for vanilla sugar!) or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
(optional) To tint buttercream, reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add gel-paste food color, a drop at a time (or use the toothpick or skewer to add food color a dab at a time) to the remaining buttercream. You can use a single shade of food color or experiment by mixing two or more. Blend after each addition with the mixer (use the paddle attachment) or a flexible spatula, until desired shade is achieved. Avoid adding too much food color too son, as the hue with intensify with continued stirring; if necessary, you can tone down the shade by mixing in some reserved untinted buttercream.

DESPERATELY REAL STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM MACARONS

2012-04-04T16:15:00.001-07:00

real strawberries and cream macarons

Okay, I'll come clean.

My eyes are drawn to the entertainment tabloids at the check-out counter and when a queue is particularly gruellingly long I have been known to pick one up and flip through its pages.

ground almonds, powdered strawberries and sugar

macaronage stage...lava-like

I have my guilty indulgences (aside from gluten-full slices of cake on occasion).

But I have never purchased a gossip magazine.

I swear.

real strawberry flavour from freeze-dried strawberries

Much like lookie-loos craning their necks to see a traffic accident, I have been known to pause on reality shows other than those on Food TV. I don't actually watch much t.v. other than a few sit-coms that to me are like brain candy. I don't need drama. I can read a book for that. Because Stomach likes to watch The Big Bang Theory and it's on frequently after the kids have been put to bed, I get a chance to kick back and watch it too. I enjoy it because heck, Stomach is an engineer and so are many of my guy friends. He and I can relate to pretty much everything that's on that show!

vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream filling is smooth, creamy and pairs well with strawberry

Though I have not watched an entire episode of Desperate Housewives and I've only ever seen at most 10 minutes of the Real Housewives series' shows, I certainly know what it's all about. Some of my friends are hooked on watching the series.

Well, tonight the Real Housewives of Vancouver launches on t.v. and I've been invited to a Real Housewives house party! Whoohoo! Fun! Some of my female friends at work decided it would be a great idea to get a few of us "Real" Vancouver housewives together to watch the first show together.

desperately real strawberry macarons!

I imagine that Strawberry Macarons would make a nice contribution to the evening's munchies. They're elegant, trendy, expensive (if purchased but I'll never do that), and intensely flavoured...just like the Real Housewives of Vancouver. To boot, they're temperamental. I didn't want all sorts of artificial ingredients in them (but I can't say that can be so accurate for the real housewives themselves...don't know that sort of stuff). So I didn't use any artificial food colouring and only organic ingredients. Well, I think that's pretty Vancouver. In general, we Vancouverites are into healthy, organic lifestyles.

the secret ingredient

I had purchased a case of freeze-dried fruit snacks from Costco recently. It was a variety pack of Pineapple, Mango and Strawberry packets. It's gluten free, no sugar added, all-natural and the ingredient list is simple; for example on the pineapple pack it states simply "pineapple". There are no preservatives like sulphites either. The freeze-dried fruit slices are different in texture than regular dried fruit. It's slightly crunchy. The flavour though is intense. Not too sweet. Because of its dry texture, it's easily ground into a powder. Therein lies my inspiration to use these snacks in macarons.

freeze-dried strawberries are intensely flavoured. no need for artificial ickiness in your macarons

I used one and a half packs of the strawberries (10 oz packets) and used my Bullet to buzz them up into a fine powder. I added that to the ground almonds and confectioners' sugar and they turned out a pale pink. The smell of strawberries was so intense. The flavour was excellent. I paired the shells with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream with real Vanilla bean. I think the flavour is like Strawberries and Cream.

real strawberries and cream macarons...a nice pairing with champagne? white wine?
a perfect pairing while watching Real Housewives Vancouver

Here it is. Why not indulge in a guilty pleasure?

REAL STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM MACARONS
an original recipe by Cakebrain

145 grams egg whites at room temperature [I used pasteurized egg whites from a carton]
2 tsp meringue powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
15 grams finely ground freeze dried strawberries
115 grams ground almonds [I purchase sliced almonds from Costco and grind them down in the food processor]
230 grams confectioners' sugar
75 grams granulated vanilla sugar

Prepare the baking pans by lining with parchment paper.
Prepare your piping bag with a large round tip.
Process the almonds, confectioners' sugar and freeze dried strawberries until thoroughly combined and finely ground. Continue to pulse until all lumps are gone. If there are small lumps, you may sift to ensure fineness of the mixture.
In a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy, about 2 minutes. Add the cream of tartar. Continue whisking on medium speed for 2 more minutes. Gradually add the granulated sugar while whisking on high for another 3-4 minutes, or until the egg whites are very stiff.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites, and with a rubber spatula, deflate the whites while mixing. Combine the ingredients thoroughly and watch carefully, lifting the mixture with the spatula to see if it leaves ribbons. Stop mixing before the mixture becomes runny. Test by seeing if the batter is lava-like. It should not maintain its lines but sink slowly back into itself in about 10 seconds.
Transfer half the batter to the piping bag and pipe the macaroons onto the parchment, allowing for spreading.
Rap the tray a few times on your counter to ensure bubbles are eradicated
Continue filling bag and piping macaron shells until all the batter is used.
Preheat the oven to 315 degrees F. Allow the macaron shells to dry, about 20-30 minutes. If you touch the surface, it should not be sticky. Continue to dry if it is sticky.
Place one tray on the centre rack and bake for 10-12 minutes (depending on the size of the macarons). Turn the tray from back to front halfway through.
Allow macaroons to cool completely before filling. Remove from parchment carefully.
Pipe Swiss Meringue Buttercream on a macaron shell, find a similar sized shell and sandwich it. Store the macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Best served at room temperature. You can freeze the shells or the prepared macarons in an airtight container.

VANILLA BEAN SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
(from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes; makes about 5 cups)

5 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 T sugar
pinch of salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
1 vanilla bean, insides scraped (and save the pod for vanilla sugar!) or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
(optional) To tint buttercream, reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add gel-paste food color, a drop at a time (or use the toothpick or skewer to add food color a dab at a time) to the remaining buttercream. You can use a single shade of food color or experiment by mixing two or more. Blend after each addition with the mixer (use the paddle attachment) or a flexible spatula, until desired shade is achieved. Avoid adding too much food color too son, as the hue with intensify with continued stirring; if necessary, you can tone down the shade by mixing in some reserved untinted buttercream.

PASTA SALAD AND FOOD HANGUPS

2012-03-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

fusilli, tuna, corn and egg salad

I'm not even going to suggest to you that you MUST put anything green (scallions!) or red (peppers!) to pep up the colour and flavour. This pasta salad would be so much more pretty but my kiddies would just pick out all the peppers and scallions anyway. When I make a batch of potato or pasta salad, I always keep the kids' portions free of greenery because they inevitably don't eat it. I think I'll just have to keep plying them with the green stuff in other ways. They do like Caesar Salad, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. The little one even eats gai lan, green beans, snap peas and bok choy.

I remember being scarred for life as a youngster eating fried rice for lunch. You'd think that going home, you'd have a decent homemade meal that was yummy and these would make for good memories. Not so with me. As a youngster in the 70's, coming home from school to eat lunch was about being nagged to eat the whole plate of fried rice because people were starving in China. A quick retort about how we should then send the fried rice to China usually just got me into more trouble. The thing about my mother's fried rice was that it had disgusting frozen peas in it. The peas were overcooked, shrivelled and tasted like muddy green bombs of grossness. There were chopped onions in there too, and I would pick away all the onions, peas and any other such matter from the fried rice; eating only the parts that didn't offend my delicate senses. I'd eat the rice, the fried egg, the Chinese sausage and that's about it.

One lunch hour when I was dawdling and moving my fried rice about the plate to try to make it seem as if I had eaten a lot, my mother became particularly angry at me about my pickiness. She told me I couldn't get out of my seat until the whole plate was finished. Every last rice kernel. I was mortified. Ick! I wanted to gag. She left me with some lame Chinese anecdote ringing in my ears about how people who don't finish every kernel of rice in their bowl would marry people who had complexions that looked like the leftovers. Fortunately for me, she had to hoof it downstairs to deal with some motel matter. You see when I was in elementary school, my parents owned and operated a motel. 24/7, they had to be at the beck and call of people who would buzz the office door for service. We lived in the office, upstairs. It was quite a colourful life, but those stories for later.

Left alone with my plate of fried rice, I realized that no matter how much I distributed the food around my plate, any food left on it would result in some sort of discipline. For those of you familiar with bamboo feather dusters, you know what I mean. The warm sun streamed through the green-trimmed windows. I pushed open the window to look down on Kimmy, our black German Shepherd below.

When my mother came back upstairs, I was sitting with my plate scraped clean. She opened her eyes in surprise and I quickly took off to school before she could figure it out.

Today, I eat pretty much everything except offal (I mean think of the word! very punny!) and weird animal body parts...especially innards. I love peas in my restaurant fried rice. Still won't touch my mother's fried rice... I am still averse to certain preparations and textures of food. For instance, I hate raisins in baked goods. They are disgusting shrivelly hard lumps of yuckiness. However, exchange those for craisins, and I'm all over it. I also don't like chopped nuts or desiccated coconut on some baked goods. But I can joyfully eat a whole bowl of nuts or even a package of raisins and as you can see in my recipes, I love the flavour of coconut. I even like to eat large chunks of dried young coconut. Very yummy!

Today, I do eat onions and peas and I love veggies; especially roasted brussel sprouts and all sorts of lovely cruciferous veggies and dark leafy greens--although I didn't eat much of these when I was a kid. I have always loved spicy food and I am pretty adventurous when it comes to ethnic eats. I'll try most things at least once. It is with this hope that my daughters will grow up to be veggie eating adults later on that I had decided early on not to bother with making a huge issue of them not eating veggies. As every year passes, they are incorporating more variety in their diets. It's slow but steady and I think not making a big deal of it and just consistently keeping it on the table for them to try will enable them to develop a healthy attitude about food and eating. I mean, really...they're not going to starve to death. We're not living in a third world country where they would appreciate what they have. I just don't want them to have these negative memories about certain foods stuck in their heads from their formative years.

So, do you have some foods that you still absolutely refuse to eat today? Are you still reeling from some childhood psychological food trauma? Were you scarred for life? Tell me about it!

a kiddie favourite in the lunch box

PASTA SALAD

*this pasta salad should be served cold. Packed in a thermos or bento box with an ice-pack, it is a kiddie favourite as part of a healthy school lunch supplemented by fresh fruit. This is best made the night before and refrigerated. All the ingredients should be pantry staples.

2 cups fusilli (uncooked) [I used Catelli Smart Pasta]
1 small can tuna [I used oil-packed, drained]
1 can corn niblets [I used Green Giant, drained]
2 boiled eggs, chopped
1/4 cup reduced fat mayonnaise (or more to taste)
very optional: chopped red peppers, chopped sundried tomatoes, shredded carrot, sliced scallions, chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add salt, cooking as per manufacturer's instructions. [I used Catelli Smart pasta that is supposed to have the same amount of fibre as whole wheat pasta].

Drain pasta in a colander and rinse with cold water. Allow to sit in colander to dry as you prepare the rest of the salad

Into a large mixing bowl toss the pasta with the rest of the ingredients: the flaked drained tuna, the corn, chopped egg and any other chopped vegetables you wish. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix in 1/4 cup mayonnaise and thoroughly combine. Add more mayonnaise to moisten if the salad looks too dry.

Refrigerate in a sealed container. Serve cold.

MEYER LEMON BARS

2012-03-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

Meyer Lemons

guess what this is?

you'll require a lot of lemon zest for this recipe

this is my new cookbook stand. love it!

these meyer lemons were so full of juice that i only had to use 5 to get 1 cup of juice

my bad...i did not wait until the crust was cooled before i dumped the egg and lemon juice mixture in! you're supposed to wait 15-20 minutes but i only waited 10 minutes.

Oh I knew I was tempting fate! I realized as soon as I dumped the filling onto the crust that it would soak right into the crust and not sit on the top like it should! I don't think it helped that I used the gluten free flour blend either because that sucker just slurped up the filling almost immediately. While I watched it in the oven, the filling just become one with the crust. There would be no lemon curd layer.

freshly baked and hot out of the oven, the crust looks like one big shortbread cookie! If I had the patience, I may have been rewarded with a layer of lemon curd, but alas this was not to be.

Despite the fact that I screwed up my Meyer Lemon Bars, they still tasted very good. I think that if I had used regular flour and waited until the crust cooled, I may have achieved a nice layer of lemon curd on top of the crust. I'll choose to see this little experiment as relatively successful because the kids loved it and so did I! The flavour was still there and I really liked the texture.

still yummy. tastes like a lemon shortbread cookie. very tender and crumbly

the best parts are the edges, where the bar gets all crusty-caramelized. not a flop! let's call it a lemon cookie bar!

This recipe comes from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, which I recently purchased at a hefty discount from Book Warehouse, which is closing its doors soon (c'est dommage!)

My family will miss the book store sorely and we used to frequent it quite often to buy our books.

LEMON BARS [made GF]

from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook by Allysa Torey and Jennifer Appel

CRUST

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 cups all-purpose flour [I used Cup4Cup gf flour blend]
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

TOPPING

2 cups sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup lemon juice [I used 5 Meyer Lemons]
6 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 12 x 18 inch jelly roll pan
To make the crust: In a large bowl, on the low speed of an electric mixer, combine all the ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Form the dough into a ball. Spread crust evenly into prepared pan. Use a large piece of waxed paper to firmly and evenly press down crust. Bake the crust for 18-20 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool for 15-20 minutes before proceeding. [*warning: I did not do this and didn't get my lemon curd layer :-( I'm sure if you allow it to cool, and use regular all-purpose flour, yours will turn out different than mine! ]
While the crust is cooling, make the topping: In a medium-size bowl, on the low speed of an electric mixer, beat the sugar, the eggs, the lemon juice, and the zest until well combined. Pour over slightly warm crust. Return to oven. Bake 18-20 minutes until edges are golden brown. Remove from one and let cool for about 20 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar.
Allow to cool to room temperature, or overnight, before cutting and serving.

CHOCOLATE CHIP RICE KRISPIES SQUARES

2012-03-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

chocolate chip rice krispies squares!

butter your baking dish well and your life will be made a lot easier later on...

everything with be sticky, including your hands!
spray pam on your spatula to smoosh the rice krispies down into the dish

unlike me, you will wait an appropriate amount of time to cut your squares so that they come out with clean edges

impatience is delicious nonetheless!

For a tried and true Rice Krispies Cereal Square recipe, try this classic one HERE if you don't like chocolate chips *horrors!*

What a perfect snack for the kids' lunch boxes! When you add in some other healthy optional mix-ins (ground flaxseed is my favourite), you can alleviate the sugar-guilt by rationalizing that you've added something healthy in there!

Cakebrain's Chocolate Chip Rice Krispies Squares

makes a LOT of squares! This is a double-batch to fit my large rectangular pyrex baking dish.

1/2 cup margarine
8 cups marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 cups rice krispies cereal (get the brown rice, gluten free cereal!)
1 cup dark mini chocolate chips
optional: nuts, sprinkles, more mini marshmallows, chocolate-covered candies, other types of cereal [evil mommy idea: mix in ground flax! i do it all the time! ;p]

Melt margarine in a large microwave-safe container (I used a pyrex bowl) along with the marshmallows for 2 minutes. Continue to heat for one minute intervals until you see the marshmallows start to puff up slightly. Using a rubber spatula, test the marshmallows by stirring them. Continue to heat in short spurts until the marshmallows are melted and can be stirred smooth. Remove from microwave. Stir in vanilla.

In a large mixing bowl, add the cereal. Stir in the melted marshmallow mixture, incorporating the cereal. Continue stirring until coated well. Toss in the mini chocolate chips. If your marshmallow mixture is still hot, you will see some of your chocolate morsels melt. It's okay...just carry on! If you would like to add any other optional mix-ins, do it now!

Press into a large rectangular buttered baking pan (or sprayed with non-stick spray). Allow to cool; cut into squares.

CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2012-03-10T19:15:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a chewy chocolate chip cookie and a glass of cold milk...while reading the newspaper.

Anna Olson's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe incorporates cornstarch into the cookie dough for a long-lasting chew!

Freshly baked out of the oven...don't over-bake!

This batch has nuts. I just pressed a few walnuts on each ball of dough before baking.

CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (Dark and White Chocolate Chunk)

adapted from Sugar: Simple Sweets and Decadent Desserts, by Anna Olson

makes about 2 dozen

3/4 cup/175 mL unsalted butter, softened

1 cup/250 mL golden brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup/ 50 mL granulated sugar

1 egg

2 tsp/10 mL vanilla extract

2 cups/500 mL all purpose flour

2 tsp/10 mL cornstarch

1 tsp/5 mL baking soda

1/2 tsp/ 2 mL salt

4 oz/125 g bittersweet chocolate chunks [I used Callebaut]

4 oz/125 g white chocolate chunks [I used Callebaut]

optional: walnut pieces for studding the tops of the cookie balls before baking

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Cream together butter and sugars until smooth.
Add egg and vanilla and blend in. Stir in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.
Stir in chocolate chunks
Drop by tablespoons onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. [I formed mine into balls and flattened slightly...and studded some of the cookies with walnut halves]
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.
Let cool slightly and enjoy.

SUNDAY BRUNCH: CRANBERRY SCONES and YEASTED WAFFLES

2012-03-06T00:30:00.000-08:00

Hands up…who loves Sunday Brunch?

Oh how I love me a sparkling delicate mimosa for brunch. It’s the only time early in the day when it’s actually acceptable to have a bit o’ booze! Not that I drink much, but a mimosa sure is yummy.

I love brunch. I love to have people over for brunch because it’s a relaxing way to linger over your coffee and chit chat. It’s more civilized than breakfast. It’s not quite lunch but if you linger enough, you’re well into the time-frame.

My last brunch was a gluten free success. I made cranberry scones employing Thomas Keller's new gf flour blend Cup4Cup. The scones recipe was from America’s Test Kitchen. I think they turned out well and I even froze some for future use.

The yeasted waffle batter is allowed to sit on the counter overnight. Mine expanded so much that it touched the plastic wrap. I gave the bowl rap and it promptly fell back down. I didn’t want the batter to ooze all over my new kitchen counter!

The next morning, you mix in 2 eggs to the waffle batter and follow manufacturer’s instructions for using the waffle iron.

I made yeasted waffles (gf) that looked gorgeous. They were a bit too yeasty in flavour for me, but I guess that could be fixed. The yeasted batter is allowed to sit overnight on the counter to ferment. I think that it doesn’t need so much fermentation. Perhaps I may cut back on the amount of yeast next time. They were light and airy but I think the yeast was not necessarily better but different.

To balance out our meal, we had hash (bacon, peppers, potatoes, egg), sausages and fresh fruit.

Yup, that’s frozen prepared hash from Costco (freezer section). You just cook it up and toss some eggs in.

I thought the scones looked amazing. As a Canadian, I am appalled by the size of American scones (especially from Starbucks). They are ginormous! I cut my scones in half and that was plenty for me. I think also that scones should be light and not doughy. More often than not when you buy scones, they are dry and look like bricks. They are not served with clotted cream and fine preserves either. If you want a taste of a really good scone, go to High Tea, where you will most likely experience a truly good British-styled scone, which just so happens to be smaller, daintier, light and flaky like a biscuit and buttery tender.

Prepare your scones the night before. Scones can be made ahead up to this point: brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with sugar. Then cover them and put them in the refrigerator until ready to bake.

In the morning, you remove the plastic wrap and bake.

Practically everything was made the night before so that there was minimal work to do in the morning before your guests arrive for brunch. If you time it right, the scones will come out of the oven just at the right time...nice and hot.

GREEN DAIKON AND JUMBO CARROT SOUP

2012-02-24T11:10:00.001-08:00

A healthy low sodium soup: Green daikon and jumbo carrot soup

I drink this broth (not the meat and veggies) primarily when I'm detoxing. There is no added salt in the soup. It is both flavourful and filling. I believe that this soup would fit into a GAPS diet as well as many of the other diets out there that aim to address gut and other immunological issues in your body.

Dried dates and longans naturally sweeten the soup

Well, in any case, we never drink it for anything else but for the fact that it is very yummy. It's a savoury broth that is clear. I use a special skimmer to remove all the fat from the broth. If you don't have that, you can refrigerate the broth and then remove the congealed fat from the surface before drinking it.

Green daikon (lo bak) and jumbo carrots are cut in large chunks. Wash and peel the carrots and daikon. Regular white daikon and carrots will do if you cannot find the special green daikon or jumbo carrots. Most Asian supermarkets will carry these specialty veggies that don't taste that great on their own but are especially good for flavouring soups. Turn your root veggies 1/3 turn as you chop them to get these lovely chunks.

ALWAYS use both NORTH AND SOUTH almond seeds. My mother told me to always use both in a soup for balance. I shudder to think what would happen if we ingested a soup made with only one type of almond seed! ;p These are not regular almonds you eat out of hand but a type of almond seed used specifically for Chinese herbal soups. Both are required as they have opposing effects on the body...if you believe in that sort of thing. I just know the soup tastes yummy if you use both.

You can find these almonds (tiny pit-sized almond shaped seeds) in an Asian herbalist's shop of the dried goods section of any Asian market. They are extremely common and dirt cheap to buy (as are the dried dates and dried longan above).

You must use pork bones for the broth. The first (and nastiest) step is you must boil the bones to remove the scum and blood. Remove any sinew or other nasties too while you're at it. I generally bring the bones to a boil in a large pot, boil the bones for a few minutes and then drain them in a colander under cold running water. I wear rubber gloves and scrub the bones of the gunk and discard all the nasty looking bits of fat and stuff while I'm running the water. It generally takes me several minutes to clean the bones. The soup bones are then placed into a fresh pot of water for the soup. Never dump raw pork bones into your soup broth as you'll have a disgusting smelly mess to deal with and the soup will taste musty.

Here's my soup cauldron.

Boil, boil, toil and trouble...

Chinese soups require 2-4 hours simmer time. My soup pot is like a crock pot and is made of specialty Purple Clay that is from China. I think it's the same clay they use in those lovely little teapots. It makes fantastic soup and relieves my stovetop space. I just plug it in and forget about it. I fill my pot up 3/4 of the way with water and then dump in all the ingredients. Generally, I leave it in there for 3-4 hours and it simmers gently the whole time.

You can eat the cooked veggies and the meat from the soup bones if you wish (my family loves it), but oftentimes the flavour has been sapped out of the veggies and is infused into the broth. My daughters generally eat the carrots on the first day and they don't seem to like the carrots the next day.

This is only one of a myriad of slow simmered soups made from combining fruit, veggies or dried herbs, roots and seeds. There's one using green papaya and chicken feet, another with apples (for coughs) and some herbal ones using sticks of herbs and stuff. I can't read Chinese, but I go by how they look. These soup broths are generally very popular in Chinese families during dinner time. Old grandmas in particular know how to make these. For some reason women are praised for their abilities to make these soups but when you really think about it, there's not much technique other than the cleaning of the bones. You just dump everything in a pot with water and simmer it for a long time. It's not as if you're slaving over a hot stove or anything. Families make these soups on a daily basis. I think that drinking a bowl of soup before a meal may take the edge off of hunger and force you to eat less (a simple diet aid) and the broth definitely will hydrate you. As for medicinal properties...my doc says he doubts it. These are not the icky herbal decoctions that people use in TCM in any case.

The recipe? I never use one. Just grab a handful of each of the dried fruits and herbs I have pictured above. I used 4 large carrots and 4 large green daikon and 2 pounds of pork bones for the soup. My pot is huge and I covered the whole thing with water. Skim off the scum as it's cooking. You don't have to do this much if you've washed the bones properly. If you have enough veggies and bones, you won't need added salt. It'll be plenty flavourful. Don't add salt if you can help it. The dates and longan will add sweetness.

COCONUT JELLY

2012-02-20T15:31:00.001-08:00

Coconut Jelly (gluten free)

Hello Kitty Coconut Jelly!

I have two plastic jelly molds I purchased to make kiddie jellies. The huge Hello Kitty face mold above turned out really well and the facial features turned out quite well.

Miffy?

Sorry, I don't know the Hello Kitty characters too well. The 4-character set produces smaller sized jellies and their features didn't turn out as distinct. Each jelly is about 2 inches in length. I used a thin rubber spatula to help ease out the jellies.

Who's this bear? Oh well, obviously I'm not learned about Hello Kitty characters.

While my daughters enjoyed the cute characters in coconut jelly form, I preferred the little cubes. The coconut jelly is firm enough to eat with your fingers, just like the kind you get at DimSum restaurants.

This version of the Coconut Jelly is not very sweet and isn't spongey like my previous recipe which incorporates whipped egg whites. It's gluten free but not dairy free. I suppose if you wanted to, you could replaced the cow's milk with more coconut milk or substitute almond milk or soy milk.

COCONUT JELLY (Gluten Free)

1 cup (250 ml) water

5 oz (125 g) evaporated cane sugar

1 oz (25 g) gelatine

1 cup (250 ml) coconut milk (ensure you mix the contents in the can well before measuring)

1 cup (250 ml) 2% milk (you may substitute with soy, almond or more coconut milk)

Boil water, add sugar and stir to dissolve. Cool slightly and add gelatine. Stir well to dissolve. Add coconut milk and 2% milk.
Immediately pour mixture into plastic-lined pan or molds and chill until firm and set.
Cut into cubes; serve cold

BEST EVER QUINOA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES FOR VALENTINE'S DAY!

2012-02-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

Best Ever Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes...Gluten Free!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This recipe has been adapted from a layer cake from the Quinoa 365 cookbook (which for me didn't work out very well initially). I was determined to tweak baking times and procedure because the cake held promise. You will require 2 cups of cooked quinoa. This is best done with quinoa that is not over-cooked. Mine was cold; straight from the refrigerator.

I purchased my quinoa from Costco. It's organic and you don't have to rinse it...but I do anyways. I also used a rice-cooker to cook my quinoa. The original recipe calls for 2/3 cups uncooked quinoa and then it tells you to cook it (leaving you leftover quinoa to store away). I made 1 whole cup of uncooked quinoa and this allowed for more leftovers (so I can make something else with it).

My first attempt with the quinoa chocolate layer cake resulted in squidginess. It was kind of wet and not too pretty but I knew that the flavour was good. No soapy quinoa flavour detected. Good thing.

My cupcakes were lined with jumbo (or large) cupcake liners. The recipe yields 12 cupcakes. I used my Vitamix to blend the quinoa and all the batter ingredients together. Then I filled the liners with the batter. The batter was just enough for the the jumbo liners. They were filled more than 3/4 full.

The cupcakes looked and smelled promisingly chocolatey in the oven. They puffed up and then when taken out they fell a bit. However, they tested clean with a cake tester. No crumbs. I baked the cakes for 30 minutes and they came out perfectly. Not squidgy!

Unlike the layer cake, the cupcakes are sturdier and the crumb isn't wet. It is super moist and not a note of quinoa is detected. My daughters didn't even know there was quinoa in it. They didn't think it was gluten free. Not a speck of flour was required in the recipe. In fact, you could probably make it dairy free by substituting the milk with coconut milk and coconut butter. I think that the eggs are pretty important for the structure though. I have no idea if egg substitute would work because we're okay with eggs and I probably will never attempt it. If you try it and it works, let me know!

The recipe calls for 1 cup of cocoa powder. I imagine that lends quite a bit of structure and flavour to the cake. Don't skimp here. Get good cocoa powder. I have used Callebaut.

The Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes do not require frosting. They are scrumptiously moist without it. I sent one to school for Bebe's recess snack. When I asked her how it was after school, she said it was so yummy! I told her it was gluten free and she said it sure didn't taste like it!

Can you imagine a chocolate cupcake that's moist, healthy with all the goodness of quinoa and doesn't require a frosting? I inhaled my cupcake and encourage you to try this excellent reincarnation of the quinoa chocolate cake recipe. I'm never going to go back to making it in layers. This rocks with a glass of cold milk too!

Now, I had to bling these babies up for Valentine's Day for my loved ones. I made chocolate lace hearts on parchment paper. I grabbed a bar of Lindt Dark Chocolate (70%), microwaved to melt it in a custard cup and made a parchment cone to free-hand drizzle some hearts. I let them set and them wedged them in a little dollop of buttercream atop the cupcakes. I encourage you to top these with the Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream from HERE.

If you like dragées, use them for sparkle. I personally don't like their crunch. My daughters love all sprinkles and go crazy with them. To each her own.

I thought this particular ivory white dragée made the cupcake look so elegant. It might even make a good Wedding Cupcake! Imagine a Celiac Bride/Groom who could finally eat their own wedding cake worry-free?

I haven't had such a good cupcake since my most popular post THE BEST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES EVER. Even when I don't post anything, people still seem to land on that old post and I still get lots of commenters telling me how yummy it is.

Well, this Quinoa Chocolate Cupcake is in contention to beat out that recipe. In fact, I think it's better. It's faster to whip up (in a food processor or blender), it's cheaper (uses cocoa powder) and it's moister. Above all, it's healthier because it doesn't use white wheat flour; but it has all the goodness of the extra protein from the quinoa and it tastes amazing.

I'm very excited to have you try this recipe as cupcakes. Try it and let me know what you think. Will this quinoa chocolate cupcake knock the liners off my popular go-to chocolate cupcake recipe using regular flour? I'm converted. How about you?

BEST EVER QUINOA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

adapted from Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood

Makes 12 large scrumptious cupcakes

2 cups cooked quinoa, cold (see note below for instructions to cook quinoa)
1/3 cup milk
4 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cups butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

*1 muffin tin (large cups, large cupcake liners) with 12 wells.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin tin with the 12 large-sized cupcake liners.
In a Vitamix, Blender of Food Processor, combine: milk, eggs, vanilla. Blend until combined. Add 2 cups of cold cooked quinoa and the melted butter and continue to blend until smooth.
Dump in the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the Vitamix. Blend well to combine.
Pour from the blender directly into the cupcake liners, evenly distributing the cupcake batter between the 12 liners. Gently tap the tin on the counter to ensure there are no air bubbles. Smooth the tops with a small spatula (or your finger!)
Bake in the centre of the oven for approximately 30 minutes.
Test the cupcakes for doneness with a toothpick or cake tester.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a rack.
Frost if desired with Swiss Meringue Buttercream using a 1M Wilton tip. Decorate with the chocolate lace hearts (see post above for the easy method I used). Bling it up with dragees if desired.
Cupcakes can be stored sealed in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month. But I don't think they'll last that long.

Note: Bring 2/3 cup raw, rinsed white or golden quinoa to boil in a heavy saucepan with 1 1/3 cups water. Cover, reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave covered saucepan on burner for another 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and allow the Quinoa to cool.

Rice Cooker Method: Cook rinsed quinoa as you would rice, following manufacturer's instructions and the indicator lines for appropriate water levels. I made 1 cup quinoa and found it had enough leftovers to make another dish.

EBLESKIVER STUFFED WITH BANANAS

2012-02-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

Pronounced "able-skeevers", this Danish treat is a cross between a pancake and a popover. They are cute and fun to eat. You can stuff them with anything. Today I stuffed mine with ripe banana chunks and served them with a dusting of confectioners' sugar, maple syrup and whipped cream.

I used the gluten free pancake mix from Bob's Red Mills. You need to use two skewers to turn the batter in the wells to make them round. I used two chopsticks to turn the batter as it cooked in the ebleskiver wells.

I found the ebleskivers more filling than they looked. The girls could only eat one and I barely managed to stuff 3 down.

I think that the ebleskiver pan shows good promise as a takoyaki pan. I'll have to try it soon with something savoury! I purchased my pan from Williams Sonoma and have only used it twice. I now recall the previous time I made them that we overdosed on them and that's why I haven't made them in a while. Next time, I need to make a smaller batch!

COCONUT-VANILLA RICE PUDDING BRULEE

2012-02-09T15:51:00.000-08:00

Coconut-Vanilla Rice Pudding...Brûlée

Any rice will do for your pudding. I used Jasmine because that's what I had on hand.

This recipe for rice pudding just happens to be Gluten Free and Dairy Free. I used canned coconut milk (Aroy-D Brand). Make sure you stir up the coconut milk in the can before measuring out. The recipe has so few ingredients and is super easy! You can make these ahead, you can leave off the sugaring process entirely and just eat it plain. You can also eat it cold or warm. Just nuke individual servings in the microwave (make sure you cover the pudding in the microwave or it may explode like it did in my oven! eep! rice pudding explosion! don't say I didn't warn you!)

Sprinkle a layer of organic evaporated cane sugar over your rice pudding. Make sure your container is oven-proof!

Ready your blow torch (you can do several at a time on the top rack of your oven and use the broiler)

Brûlée your sugar.

Check. Did you miss any spots? you can add some more sugar and torch those areas again...

COCONUT-VANILLA RICE PUDDING BRULEE

1/2 cup rice [I used Jasmine, but a short or medium grain will be creamier]
1/4 cup sugar [I used organic evaporated cane sugar. If you like it sweet, use up to 1/2 cup sugar]
2 cups coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract [I used vanilla bean paste]

In a large heavy saucepan, cover rice with water and bring to a boil [I used 1 1/2 cups of water]
Reduce and simmer on low heat, covered for 15 minutes.
Add sugar, coconut milk and vanilla extract. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
Stir until excess liquid has evaporated.
Distribute the rice pudding in ovenproof individual ramekins. [You can make these ahead up to this point and store covered in the refrigerator]
Sprinkle extra cane sugar [granulated will do] until you cover the entire surface of the pudding.
Either brûlée your pudding tops with a torch or broil in the oven until golden brown.
Serve immediately.